


The Key to Modern Magic

by Warrior_of_Earth



Category: Batman - All Media Types, Maribat - Fandom, Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Badass Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Celtic Mythology & Folklore, Chinese Mythology & Folklore, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Daminette, F/M, Gen, Japanese Mythology & Folklore, Magic, MariBat, Mythology References, more will probably be added - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-17
Updated: 2021-01-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 05:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,731
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27598226
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Warrior_of_Earth/pseuds/Warrior_of_Earth
Summary: wherein the batfam is clueless, Marinette is a BAMF, and demons, demigods and others are in one giant supernatural community that the batfam is unknowingly a part of.
Relationships: Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Alya Césaire & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Batfamily Members & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Chloé Bourgeois & Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Jason Todd, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Kagami Tsurugi, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Nino Lahiffe, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Damian Wayne
Comments: 8
Kudos: 171





	1. Introduction

A dark, shadowed figure loomed on the edge of the roof, peering across the dark city streets with magic-blessed eyes surveying the chaos of crime alley. Of course, the owner of those eyes didn’t know they were magic blessed. Many years ago, before the idea of becoming a vigilante had even arisen, the owner of those eyes had their magic awakened by blood splattered on cheeks and knees, two days before he would have been inducted into the truth of the family secret. Those who could sense that he and his folke were magic-blessed assumed they wished to keep it secret, as anyone knowing you have any magical heritage could spell death and doom to the population.

Modern Faere folke had hidden among the american peoples with glamor spells, shapeshifting and modern makeup. Their shockingly bright eyes beacons to those who wish to harm them, until the stories of shockingly bright eyes, children wandering lost brought home, and tall intelligent figures faded unto but myth and legend. The man, no longer a boy, had assumed that the magykal experiences and expressions seen rampant throughout gotham city were merely the effects of the rogues and various metas who lived within the city limits. The four children of his had the same theory, as all of them with awakened magic had no knowledge of their heritage from the global peoples known to some as fae, fare folke and to some as youkai or other such names. These peoples had intermixed and spread across the globe as their human neighbors found their own ways and traditions to do so. These ancient people held unique language, mannerisms and livelihoods then their neighbors. In Egypt many hid as temple wardens. In Greece they called themselves demigods.

Today, they were called ‘magic’ or ‘meta’ especially by those with no knowledge of these ancient traditions. The faye spoken of most oftenly in magical circles is the one who claims the title batman there are whispers that his magic use is so instinctual that it is as if he doesn't even think he is acting on instincts they say, he is a master of the magical arts. He has only taken 8 students, those who choose the mantles of Robin or Batgirl. These students are seen to be masters of their respective mystical arts, and warriors of high caliber. They are worldwide renowned as the second coming of the fabled ‘order miraculi’ the warrior-mages who served as protectors to the people of the continents. Each fare folke community held at least one warrior of the miraculi, at least until the humans, led by a certain few wayward fare folk, ones wishing to allow themselves immortality and the ability to do whatever they wished, in their place on top of the ‘lowly humans’ this rivaling organization became known as the league of assassins.

Those few fae who started the order grew in power and magnitude until nearly the whole order had fae blood. However, they never succeeded in completely exterminating the order miraculi, as scattered members existed, and the heir apparent of the order, known as the guardian, escaped bringing several of the younger members training at the compound in the tibetian mountains. Several of these warriors had chosen to teach the batman, passing on their skills and implanting their magical instincts into his fighting style, not knowing he was clueless as to his heritage. The grand guardian, blessed with slow aging had lived centuries naturally with the help of wayzz, tikki, plagg, and the rest of the miracle circle. They died naturally seventeen years before our story starts, their magic returning to the earth and being gifted to another. The new miracle circle, born to fae heritage, grew under their parents direction until at the tender age of 14 two members of the league of assassins chose to enact their tyranny to gain the alpha pair of fae’s magic. Not knowing that one of them was hidden by his mother, a member of the league herself, in gotham with his father.

Their son, who wasn’t like them in ideals, was sent to live with his mother’s family, the ancestral De’ Vanily family. The rest of the court residing in Paris, France, chose to fight against the fae, hiding their intents as ‘miraculous’ or the objects they wore, that were enchanted to disguise appearance, were the true source of their powers. They fought bravely for three years, at the age of the full maturation of their powers, the current Lady Creation, descending from the huli jing of china and the fare folke of europe, conquered, sealing the powers of the two members of the league of assassins and sealing their memories of fighting, magyk and anything to do with modern fare folke. The order of miraculi was re-born.


	2. Chapter One

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> we all stan Cass, Mari is a BAMF, and plot bunnies took me somewhere completely unexpected

The young woman, sheathed in black armor with dark red cloth masking any showing skin, approached Wayne tower carefully. She, as the new grand guardian of the miraculi had come to officially invite the hero team whispered among the faere folke community as the second coming of the order miraculi. The magical prowess she had seen during her circle’s previous week in gotham city only cemented her resolve to have them join, especially as she sensed the other half of her alpha pair was in this city, using his unique brand of destruction magic to wither away at the thick, choking, dark magykal miasma that filled the air and was soaked into the bones of the city. As she had been here she began the work of aiding in the cleansing of the city, increasing the process as her magic and that of the entire circle twisted together in intricate and beautiful whisps, clearing the damage and allowing the subconscious weight laying heavily on the mortals and fae that had taken residence within the city. 

She took her yoyo, the weapon she had chosen during her training with her predecessor, Wang Fu, and tossed it up, carefully weaving added metal thread onto the end of the weapon itself, sending herself up to the top of the building. Taking a deep breath and giving herself a small pep talk, the young fae began preparing the detection spells that would allow her to know when the bat team arrived, as they were wont to do when an unknown party arrived. Lacing into the detection sigils, she laced defence magic in the unlikely event they attacked her. 

Defence magic was an unusual type of magic, even beyond usual protector spells. It locked the magic of all inside a 50 foot radius of the sigil itself, only fading after either the original castor willed it to, or after a certain amount of magical energy had been absorbed. She sat and began to work on cleansing the miasma out of the part of gotham she was in. It being among the most frequented areas by the local faye, it had very little work to be done and she was able to complete over a half of it in the thirty minutes it took for her to sense light, silent footsteps on the rooftop. Listening closely, she was careful not to tense, allowing the person behind her to approach thinking they were unnoticed. They paused, waiting to approach her. 

Marinette spoke, not moving or opening her eyes, “you know, you are welcome to speak with me if you wish to,” The person jumped, a small gasp letting her know the mysterious member of the bat-clan behind her was female. Gracefully rising up to her full height, not that it was much, she turned to see a black-haired woman looking at her, a carefully schooled mask on her face. 

“You… noticed me?” the woman haltingly said, hands seeming to instinctively sign along with her words. 

“Yes, I did.” Marinette replied easily, signing along with herself.

“Not many do…” the woman replied, seeming relieved that she would be able to effectively communicate.

“It isn’t too hard for the faye folke, you should know, being one yourself.”

“You know I am fae?” the other woman began rapidly signing, “are you from the league? Most powerful faere folke these days are.”

“No! I am here in my duty as grand guardian of the order miraculi, I have come to offer the bat team official places among our court, especially as you have long been lauded as the second coming of the order.” She spoke, careful not to lay all her cards on the table just yet. The other woman stood for a moment, then began hesitant to sign. 

“Meet here tomorrow. Same time, same place. Bat will be here to speak with you then.” She paused for a second. “They don’t know they are faere folk. I don’t know enough about the true history of our peoples to be able to give an adequate explanation. Remember to… be gentle. This will come as quite a shock to them.” Marinette nodded, giving a formal bow to the other woman, giving her due respect as a fellow folke warrior.

Carefully leaping off the top of the tower, Marinette, currently without a glamour and wearing a domino mask, allowed herself to relax and enjoy the sensation of free-fall. She sensed a projectile heading for her. Reaching out, she grabbed a dart. Opening her eyes, she pinpointed the sniper’s location. Releasing her magic, she cast and soaring, headed toward her attacker. Landing on the edge of the window, crouching with the edges of her deep red tunic streaming behind her, she reached out her magic only to find a fae presence blending into the shadows. She cast a quick rune, sending it forward and thrusting this mysterious presence into visibility. It was a slight youth, one with bakeneko heritage as well. Their startlingly grey eyes were alight with fear. 

“You are a mage?” The youth spoke in sudden disbelief. “But… powerful mages never come to gotham.  _ Especially not ones that can cast gravity magic!  _ The only even semi powerful mages here are the bats and some of the rouges!”

“I am lady luck of the order miraculi. I am here to cleanse the miasma in gotham and to invite the court of bats into our order officially.” marinette spoke calmly, her stance carefully set, but open and inviting to the young youkai

“But… you…” The youth took a deep breath and spoke. “The order hasn’t been seen or heard of for quite some time. Pardon my asking, but… why did you abandon us?”

“We never abandoned you and never will. The court was attacked by the league of assassins and our ranks were decimated. We have survived in pockets across the world, but have recently gained enough power to return to our ancient duties and once again fulfil our oath to the world.” The youkai’s eyes lit up, excitement running like lightning through their bones. 

“My lady” they bowed, “might I spread the good news unto the rest of my clan and the other folke in the city? We will celebrate your order’s true return.”

“Please” ,marinette recomposed herself after having squeaking and flushing from the deference she was unused to, “don’t spread it too far, there are still those here who wish to follow the league’s ideals. However, If you and your clan wish more training in properly harnessing your magic I would be honored to teach you. If you pass knowledge to other clans, alert me, and my circle will teach this city’s honored youkai more of cleansing, protection and healing if you wish” The youkai squeaked, and nodded their head exuberantly. 

“Yes! We would be honored. My name is  Aoki Toyo, the right hand of my circle.” Marinette bowed back. “Greetings Aoki, I am known as Ladybug in this form, I am the first leader of my circle. We will meet here in two days time to begin our training.” 

\---------

Marinette replaced her glamour and walked down the Gotham city streets. Her more… Other features were hidden, and the armour she wore as Ladybug now appeared and felt like normal clothing. Dodging into an alleyway, she pulled herself lightly onto a nearby roof and ran, jumping over gaps and watching her surroundings until she reached the hidden roof access that led to the building her circle had purchased.

“Hey guys,” Marinette said sheepishly, dropping through the roof, “I may have adopted one of the local clans? And offered to train them? And said you guys would train other circles, clans or packs in the city. Oh geez! I should have asked you guys if you’d be willing to train other fae! I’m going to be kicked out of the circle and-!” Marinette was abruptly pulled out of her panicked musings by hands on her shoulder and s steady voice speaking. 

“Breathe girl! We don’t hate you, you won’t get kicked out of the circle, and you  _ know  _ we like to help train other circles.” Alya spoke calmly, placing her hands on Marinette’s shoulders and grounding her from her catastrophizing. 

“Besides, as the soul of creation you rebuild, and to me, it sounds like you are rebuilding the order miracul to its former glory. We all chose to enter the order, and as the grand guardian you can speak for us. More trained members of the order is always a good thing!” Nino chimed in from where he was draped over an overstuffed armchair, headphones on with garageband open on an app on his tablet, a new song playing for the upcoming samhain. 

“ _ Thank you guys” _ Marinette replied, relieved of their continued acceptance of her and her occasional quirks.

“By the way, bugsy,” Chloé piped up, sharpening her knives as she spoke, “did you meet with a bat yet?” 

“Yes, black bat and I have agreed that some of the bats will meet with me tomorrow evening to discuss our current location in this city. I did get some good intel from black bat though, apparently most of them don’t even know they  _ have  _ fae heritage. She is unable to explain it sufficiently enough, so she has asked us to help show them of it.” 

“Well, I guess we’ll have to meet them there tomorrow, won’t we?” stated kagami, luka nodding along, determined. 

“Well, I guess we will need to finalize our game plan. Let's get to work team!”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all so much for reading!


	3. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherin Damian and Marinette have a duel

After briefly conversing with her team, marinette signaled to max to open the portal to the top of Wayne tower. As he was opening it, she went through. It was an hour before the Bats were scheduled to be there, but based on what she knew of them and their operations they would be early as well. Her team spread out carefully, cloaking themselves to eyes trained and untrained in the arts of detection.

Marinette began re-laying the sigils she had placed the night before, carefully sending small pulses of magic into the ley-lines on the rooftop. The power-dampening sigil could not be layed this time around, as her circle needed to keep up their illusion spells, aided by the ever fiery Alya, who was one blessed with the power of trickery and illusion. Marinette, then in her guise of Ladybug, returned to the arduous task of cleansing the miasma from the Gotham city streets. 

Suddenly, she sensed several fae heading towards her, their auras starkly different than the average fae within the city. Marinette had no doubts that these four figures were the bats, well known within magical circles for their prowess and tenacity when using magic. Marinette however, sensed that they were unknowingly using their magic, as they were letting off their full magical aura. 

Anyone trained in magic would know where they were instantly, and would know their primary affinity and power level from that alone. A trained mage hides most of their magic, leaving a small aura as a calling card saying  _ there are others like you here  _ these fae flared their auras with seemingly reckless abandon as they leapt over rooftops and shot grappling hooks up the tower. With soft scuffles, the vigilantes of gotham city landed lightly on the rooftop, a light note of surprise escaping one of them. 

Marinette spoke, quite like she had the night before, saying “Glad to see you are here. I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Your back is facing towards us.” One of the fae behind her deadpanned. 

“You aren’t cloaking at all, of course I can tell you are there.” Marinette spoke, still kneeling inside the rune circles, invisible to non-fae eyes. 

“Cloaking?” One of them cautiously added.

“Yes, cloaking your magic.” She replied, standing up and turning around to face them

“We.. don’t have magic?” Red robin spoke cautiously, believing the strange woman before him to be crazy.

“You do. Why else can you tell when someone is about to hit you? How else can you move seconds before your opponent even knows they are going to strike? How else do you sense something is wrong, and then have the urge to  _ fix it  _ without even knowing what it is? How else could you sense the oppressive aura in gotham, the aura that weighs down physically, not just psychologically. Besides, you aren’t hiding your magical aura, and any magical user trained even a bit in the use of mana manipulation, in  _ any  _ of it’s forms, would be able to sense you. If you don’t believe me, I can show you…” A stunned silence followed behind her speech.

“Yeah right  _ witch _ ” Robin snarled, believing this person was here on the orders of his mother, or at least here to harm his family. Anyone coming into Gotham  _ knew  _ that magic users and metas weren’t allowed here. It was  _ preposterous  _ to think that any of the  _ bats,  _ with the exception of signal, had any form of magic manipulation. He figured the  _ best  _ way to get this  _ presumptuous  _ and  _ insulting  _ woman out of here was to frighten her off with a duel. So, he challenged her.    
“If you truly are what you say you are, you’ll agree to a friendly  _ sparring match  _ won’t you? No magic of course, wouldn’t want you to  _ cheat” _

“Robin!” Batman snapped, “Don’t…” whatever he was going to say was washed away by Marinette’s reply. 

“I accept the challenge. I assume you are using your katana?”

“Yes.” 

“Then I shall choose a weapon of a similar effect.” Marinette opened her palm, closing her eyes, and rearranging the molecules around her to create twin knives, carefully blunted, so as to not cause permanent or serious injury. 

“Shall we begin?” Damian stalked forward, lithe movements betraying a natural, deadly grace that comes from training, and frequent training at that. They circled each other, watching closely for any weaknesses in each other's guards. Finding none, Damian grew wary. Hoping to cut off any resistance quickly, he jabbed forward. Blocked. Marinette feinted in return, blocked. They increased to an unnaturally fast blur of speed, Damian unconsciously tapping into his innate abilities when sparring with his soulmate, the creation to his destruction. They both lunged forward in sinc, ending with a draw. Bolth held their weapons in a deadly position, leaving them both panting at the unusual exertion. They straightened, Damian sheathing his sword, and marinette releasing her knives back into the molecules where they had come from. They bowed, unconsciously mirroring each other. Marinette breathed deeply and spoke. 

“Now, if you will allow me to teach you how to  **see,** you will be able to see the truth of my words.”

“As you have followed my request, so shall I follow yours.” Robin replied, respectful and wary of the opponent before him. 

“Very well.” marinette replied, then began to explain how to access their mage sight, something innate and unique to each species. Every type of fae, the overarching term used in english, had a unique way of sensing the magical aura unique to an individual. Some used air vibrations, others used eyesight, some used hearing, and still others used their own magic to interact. In most cases it was a subconscious mix of several of these ways that gave the fae a sense of the individual magical prowess, and raw power of those they were  _ seeing.  _ Those who were untrained didn’t cloak, a magical shield around an individual, so their aura was plain to all those around them. This was an instinctual part of having fae blood, from any line, and so was the first thing taught to newly aware folke. As marinette explained, the bats present began to open their magical senses for the first time, and thus were in awe at the auras around each other, and the different auras in gotham city. Pixies were floating in the wind up high, and a few wind dragons were snoozing among the gargoyles. 

“I’ve… seen some of this before, when I was younger… I thought it was just my imagination!” Red Robin said in awe.

“Those without a mentor or parent often do believe it  _ is  _ their imagination. The first time you  _ see  _ is when you are deemed old enough to know of the truths of the other part of the world.” Marinette spoke with a wry smile, “Of course, this is only the normal parents.”

“When does this normally happen?” Batman said, curiosity entering his gruff tone.

“Between seven and ten, usually. It is when a child’s ambient mana has developed enough for instinctual behaviors and abilities to come out.” 

“Instinctual behaviors and abilities?” Robin spoke, raising an eyebrow. 

“Yes, each type of fae has different needs and abilities. Of course there are a few overarching ones, such as the instinct to care for abandoned young, and those in an abusive situation. Especially children with magic, or those who have strong fae blood. After all, that is what  _ you  _ did batman.”

“... he’s got you there B” Red robin added with a chuckle. 

“Wait. How did you know they are  _ my  _ children?”

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I Lost inspiration so decided to leave it on a cliffhanger...


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein the bats realize this is real.

“You do know that you all have  _ incredibly  _ similar fighting styles and investigation methods? It would seem you have all been taught by the same source. And Batman is known for how little he trusts his fellow gothamites, the only way he would trust them enough to train them in the same methods he himself learned, would be if they were family. You monsieur batman, are also the oldest in the group, meaning that the rest of the ‘bat-clan’ would be your children” Marinette said, responding to his earlier question. “I should probably also tell you that most magic users in the city know your Identity because you are…. poor at shielding.” There was a sudden silence, as the only person to figure out their identities (besides the ‘butts match’ thing) was tim. If there was a previously unknown factor for their identities to be revealed… how many people did know the identities of the bats? 

“How… many magic users are there in Gotham?” Batman slowly replied, still in shock at the previous revelation of his ‘dadness’ overtaking his cryptid scary status.

“In a given population, usually around twenty percent. Gotham, however, has a bit of a… dark magic stain for lack of a better term. Most magic users have moved away and so probably.. two hundred in this city?” Marinette replied, thinking out loud. The bats, even the ones on the comms on patrol and in the cave, sighed in relief that it wasn’t  _ twenty percent  _ of the Gotham city population. More questions still needed answering though, so Red Robin spoke up. 

“How many are in the criminal population of the city?”

“None, circles and the like keep eachother out of  _ those _ sort of influences.” Mari said, wrinkling her nose in distaste. A wild Nightwing suddenly jumped in from where he had been patrolling previously. He heard magic, and that  _ he had magic, take  _ that  _ wally,  _ and had to come learn what magic he had! Was it spell magic? Could it be runic magic? He was so exited! 

“What kind of magic do I have? What kind of creature am I?” he said, looking for all intents and purposes like an over excited golden retriever puppy meeting a new person for the first time.

“Pfttttt” Mari chortled, the hilarity of the oldest bat-kids entrance catching up to her. She settled her-self down, after a few relapses of laughing when Nightwing began pouting at her reaction, and spoke.

“You seem to have some veela blood, and… siren?”

“...” Nightwing was disappointed. He had expected something he actually  _ knew about _ , not… whatever that was.

“You have some glamour, or illusion, magic and a slight cognitive suggestion magic.”

“You’ve been making yourself hotter!” Red Robin sniggred, laughing at the fact that  _ Dick was subconsciously trying to make himself hotter!  _ Batman pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. 

“Can you teach us how to properly harness these… innate powers we ‘supposedly’ have?”

“Of course! I should probably start with the basics…. How does a werelight sound?”

“Werelight?”

“A floating ball of light, useful as a flashbang or just for general illumination.”

“Oooooh!” Nightwing exclaimed, bouncing on the balls of his feet, “Can magic imitate all of the tools in our regular repertoire?”    
“If you have enough stored mana, yes.”

“Mana?”

“Magical energy, It is innate in each of us, and replenishes when we sleep,”

“How does that happen?” Red Robin (yummm) chimed in from where he stood slightly behind batman.

“The earth has an innate magic. We unconsciously draw from it as we sleep, but it is only able to be drawn out in NREM-3 sleep, or the deepest stage of sleep. You naturally lessen the amount of this sleep you get as you age, but also increase the amount of magic you can store and use as you age.”

“How do we access this?”

“That is a very good question I will teach you if you agree to be taught by me. We can’t have mages try to figure things out on their own. That has lead to some…. Disasters.”

“Like?” Robin said, clearly not believing a word of this explanation.

“Pompeii, the sinking of atlantis, the vanishing of tir’ na nog, the…”

“Are we seriously meant to believe this?”

“Yes.”

\----

Marinette was not impressed with their first attempts at consolidating and absorbing their auras. Given, they were  _ much  _ older than her usual pupils, and had  _ much  _ larger mana pools to hide. Usually, it was second nature and much more gradual of a process than this one. Thus, she supposed it was to be expected that they were struggling. After all, she had the same struggles when she first emerged as a magic user. Being the embodiment of creation did that to you. 

Thus, she was the only one who had  _ any  _ experience in dealing with Robin’s situation, and had to partner the rest of the bats off with her team. This still wasn’t doing what she wanted though, as Robin was…. stubborn to say the least. 

Perhaps a different method of teaching was required.

“Lets play hide and seek. I’ll hide first and you try to find me with my aura. I’ll then do the same to you. If out of five rounds I find you quicker than you find me, or within the first five minutes, then you will listen to what I am telling you and get this right.”

“Fine. It's not like you will be able to anyway.”

“We’ll see.”

She beat him every time. 

\---

“If I am ‘fae’ on both sides, then why do I not know how to do this already?”

Marinette leaned up against the wall opposite Robin.

“By my understanding, the league only informs their initiates if they are eleven. Thus they have a larger amount of control to be able to exert and have a solid loyalty to the organization. You left when you were ten, so wouldn’t have reached that stage in your training. I believe your mother assumed your father or brothers would teach you proper shielding.”

\-----

“Would I be able to join your… circle? I want to grow away from my family, and shed the mantle of robin.

I feel like that is where I need to be.” Robin asked hesitantly, a far cry from his usual demeanor. 

“You have good instincts. We were going to ask you later once your training was farther along. If you truly do feel that way, we can induct you into the circle’s magic bond.”

“Thank you.”

  
  



End file.
